Shrewsbury resident receives Girl Scout Gold Award

Tuesday

Jun 6, 2017 at 12:06 PMJun 6, 2017 at 12:07 PM

SHREWSBURY — AIshwarya Khanna, of Shrewsbury, has received the Girl Scout Gold Award.

A member of Westborough Girl Scout troop 30633, Khanna said dancing has played a large role in shaping the person that she is today. Khanna never saw any programs that had children with special needs or disabilities in them. She wanted to share with them everything that dancing has given her.

Working with the Westborough Recreation Department’s sports division, Khanna created Unified Dance. Children were given an opportunity to learn formal dance instruction, and freestyle to express themselves. This project taught Khanna about how to work with others, how she presents herself to others and how to get things done the way she wants them in a timely fashion. Khanna wrote three curriculum that volunteers can use to continue the program.

The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA, earned by Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts. Only 5.4 percent of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award.

After completing the prerequisites, girls use their vision for change to complete a service project that reaches beyond the Girl Scout organization and provides lasting benefit to the girl’s larger community. It requires a minimum of 80 hours of work in planning and actually completing the project. All of these hours must be completed by the awardee, and though it is encouraged that the girl use troop members and others from the community to help her, their time spent does not count towards her 80-hour requirement. Plans must be developed with the aid of an advisor, then a project proposal must be submitted and approved by the girl’s local Girl Scout council before starting the project and a final report must be submitted and approved after the project’s completion.

Khanna attends the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School. Outside of Girl Scouts, Khanna enjoys teaching dance and Hindi language, and helping middle school girls’ code for android apps as part of the CS Gems. She is part of the Ten80 STEM Racing Club and the business team at her high school. She enjoys playing volleyball and tennis with her family. She will attend Brandeis University in the fall.